Foundation Training Series on Buddhism and Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM)As taught by Most Venerable “Bhante” Vimalaramsi Mahathera and Sasana Dipika Sister KhemaBeckley, W. VAJULY 10, 2012Installment 001-FS-001 Course Description, Syllabus w posting dates, and Participation viewThe Gift of Dhamma is Priceless! Updated Course Description, Syllabus w posting dates, and Participation viewThe course is the culmination of many years of hard work figuring out what works the best to help people to study and practice the Buddhist Meditation found in the (original Buddhist texts, i.e. the suttas,) and which is now called Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation or TWIM for short.

If you are just joining us, this will help you to understand what we are doing here.

Any suggestions are appreciated. It has made me very happy that so many people are following along and using this meditation in life. This is wonderful news. Please keep asking questions as I continue this work and point out to me anywhere you are not getting enough information on a particular subject.IF anyone new is finding this, you can get more details about what this training manual is all about by reading the section that follows the SYLLABUS below. Write to me any questions you have.Much Metta and smiles to you all.Ven. Sister Khema email to sisterkhema@dhammasukha.orgDhamma Sukha Meditation Center (DSMC)(This gives you some idea of the material we will develop here. More may be added to accommodate your questions and discussions.)TRAINING SYLLABUS INDEX ---UPDATED JULY 10, 2012 by SKI- What is this Buddhism? Support dhamma talk called “What is Buddhism?” Please note the film called "Validation" over at YouTUBE on the internet. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao )

1. FS-01-What is Buddhism? 01/10/20102. FS-02-What is Dana?- Complete explanation and exercise- 01/28/20103. FS-03-What is Sila? - includes inter-relationship of the Precepts and Hindrances. 02/18/20104. FS-04-What is Bhavana? - What is development? Part 1 3/1/105. FS-05-What is Bhavana? Part 2 –The Four Noble Truths and How can we use them? 3/1/10

II What is this Meditation?

6. FS-06-What is Meditation and What is Mindfulness?= FS-06 + an exercise for sense doors 4/30/107. FS-07-Why practice meditation? FS-07 plus an exercise about smiling 6/26/108. FS-08-What is TWIM? Why is it different? 7/8/10

IV Where does the suffering happen?12. FS-12-What is Craving? ( Tanha) 8/16/1013. FS-13-What is Clinging? (Upadana)- 9/7/1014. FS-14- What is Habitual Tendency? ( Bhava) 9/16/1015. FS-15- What is Birth? (Jati) 1/6/1216. FS-16- What is Aging and Death? 3/15/11 this includes an understanding ofHow does Sorrow, Lamentation, Pain, Grief, and Despair come into this (jara-marana and kanika-marana) 17. FS-17- What is Karma? (Kamma) 2/20/11V- Meditation:18. FS-18 What is Purification of Mind? X19. FS-19 Can we see the suffering? X20. FS-20 What is retraining the mind? X21. FS-21 How can we stop the suffering? VI- How do I begin Meditate?22. FS-22 What is Meditation practice?How do I determine which meditation to do?What is Breath Meditation?What is Metta Meditation?What are the Brahma Viharas?What is Forgiveness Meditation?What is Walking Meditation?23. FS-23 Your first meditation retreat: Using JT Retreat #124. FS-24 What do I need to start?What should I wear to meditate?Where should I meditate?How should I sit when I meditate?How long should I meditate each time?How long should I walk?What about arising Pains?What about arising Hindrances?FAQ problems and solutions

VII- Meditation progress25. FS-27 How do we give a report to the teacher?Demonstrate the effective 4 point report.26. FS-28 Did the Buddha provide a Development Chart?MN-21, Upanissa Sutta,27. FS-29 Did the Buddha provide a Progress Chart? Refer to DN chart. 28. FS-31 Which MN suttas are most supportive for developing meditation practice?29. FS-32 Which material in the Samyutta Nikaya is helpful?VII- 37 Requisites for Awakening- Reweaving the Dhamma Cloth30. FS-33-What is Awakening versus Enlightenment?31. FS-34 What are the 37 Requisites for Awakening? The leaves story32. FS-35 The 4 Foundations of Mindfulness33. FS-36 The 4 bases of Spiritual Power34. FS-37 The 5 Faculties35. FS-38 The 4 Steps of Right Effort and the 6R’s36. FS-39 The 5 Powers and the 6Rs on automatic37. FS-40 The 7 Factors of Awakening38. FS-41 The 8 Folds of The Noble Eightfold Path. 39. FS-42 How can the 37 Requisites re-weave the Dhamma cloth.VIII- Going Deeper into Human Cognition in Daily Life40. FS-43 What is Human Cognition?Can we learn this in school as we grow up?41. FS-44 How did the Buddha discover the Process of Dependent Origination?42. FS-45 How did the Buddha investigate when he did meditation?43. FS-46 How can we observe D.O.?44. FS-47 How is D.O. useful in daily life?45. FS-48 What is the most direct way to see and understand the Three Characteristics of Existence?IX- Opening the doorway to Peace.46. FS-49- Using meditation in the World.47. FS-50- What is the best way to share what we are learning?48. FS-51- OPEN TOPIC by request at the end 49. FS-52- Second open topicX- So, what’s next?In addition to this, outside of the syllabus itself, every so often there will also be what is called TRAINING NOTES posted to address topics or questions outside of the syllabus.These topics originate from questions you write to me or what is discussed on the group support list at times.Training Notes so far:

--Training note #1- Learning by listening to the Buddha’s discourses instead of beginning by reading. 01/10/10

--Training Note #2- A few words about continuing this training - 04/30/10

-Training note #3- Answering questions about the history of TWIM- 06/26/10Summary of project goals, content, participation, and background of teachersI Project GoalsThe goals of the project are:

to demonstrate consistency and interconnectedness within this Foundation Buddhist Meditation training as given in the Pali Texts and to show its value and usefulness in everyday life.

To clearly see that when we understand the Dhamma, it improves our practice immensely and relieves suffering in life. You will discover many answers here to challenges in your present life.

To come up at the end with a good leadership manual so others can learn to successfully share TWIM with others.

To create material to help monastics reclaim what was absolutely priceless about Buddhist teachings for the common good of the lay person in today’s modern world.

To end up with a practical manual future group leaders and teachers can refer to when teaching TWIM (RIGHT EFFORT) and various parts of Buddhism to others.

Like any practice, you need a strong foundation. Imagine boosting mind’s potential by letting go of all tension and abandoning all fear and worry. Wow.II About the ContentThe training starts at the beginning. There are no dates set up for you to begin or end. You may begin at any time. Just go to the website or into the Support group files and catch up. As you go along, please ask questions. We want to fulfill the answers for you.The progressive training:This foundation training is meant to bring out the full picture of what Buddhist training was and still can be today.I wish to help you capture the full recipe of what it was by fully encompassing mental and physical meditation practices of Generosity (Dana), Morality(sila) and then Mental Development (bhavana). Understanding the Three Pillar approach is very important for success. The pillars were Dana-Sila- Bhavana. Nowadays you are more likely to be presented with Sila-Bhavana-Pan~n~a without part of the old ingredients. You may find a difference if you put all of the ingredients in the cake. <grin>The meditation instructions are given in the beginning of the course so that you can actively practice while you train and hopefully ask some questions. Lots of insights with full understanding should turn up if you keep the entire set of information and you keep referring to it. The meditation practice is discussed more deeply as the chapters move along.First we learn the 5 Aggregates, the 6 Sense Doorswhich each of us is made up of. Then we begin to look at how each person experiences their existence in this life through contact and feeling(Human Cognition). We learn how Feeling arisesand see why Feeling is not Emotion.By the way, this is great news offering great hope for all of us to get a handle on life instead of being beaten up by emotions systematically and feeling like there is no out! I am trying to give you clear and simple terms and language to use for communication with the guiding teachers who practice and teach TWIM. · Short definitions will define Craving and Clinging, their similarities and distinct differences.· Meditation and Mindfulness will become clear and how they work together.· Proper investigation is demonstrated by the Buddha in the texts.· What is purification of mind· How does it happen through retraining the mind in meditation?· You will learn four ways of using the Four Noble Truths· You will discover them within each link of Dependent Origination.· In short, you will learn how to practice the same investigation the Buddha did.· The training will be interspersed with exercises that are still being developed.· Referrals are given to supporting texts, Dhamma talks, videos, and other references found online for you to refer to. As we study together, you will hear about examples of interactions between people in daily life and how clear understanding changed the outcomes of their situations.Q: Who is “Q”?A: I am the “Q”!A: What is it when you see “Q”? Q was born out of the many questions all of you have posed to Bhante and me over the past 12 years. I decided to create “Q” because it is a comfortable way for me to write.Q: What happens after this information is given?A: You follow along as the installments are developed and you will be instructed how to give a 4-point report about your own meditation experience so you can check in with the teachers sometimes and we will then understand where exactly you are. This is so you can get advice on the next step if you want to. We will try to help you when we are in the center in Missouri or when I am traveling, I will try to keep up with you. But please, be patient because I often seem to end up where there are very difficult internet connections.

The intention of this project is for you to meet the Dhamma in a new way with the Buddha as a premier meditation teacher who spent 45 years refining into the simplest way possible, how to share the meditation training with others helping them to see what he uncovered and then taught.III About Your ParticipationQ: What is our responsibility for this course?A: You don’t really have a specific responsibility however,How much you get involved with this is totally up to you. If you are participating, your responsibility is to contribute questions, discuss points found in the installments, and then we will dig deeper then perhaps you did before. If you do write to us please identify which installment you are referring to. Please don’t go far afield. Always, let us know what you want more information n or how you need to better understand the lesson. Don’t be silent! Keep asking questions. This is how to learn more.As I work on this, I need to know, if a topic needs to be more clearly written about, shortened or should we use smaller words? Do you need better examples? Do you want more Pali words? Tell us what you need. What other things about Buddhism do you want to know? All information will be considered and if not used immediately, it will be discussed in the future for use in the training manual. Most important, we need to know if you understanding the Dhamma and beginning to use it in life. Let us know please.If this dhamma does not lighten up your life and bring you more contentment and balance, then, what good is this practice for life?All installments are written by Sister Khema and then edited by Venerable Vimalaramsi before posting They will be posted onto the Dhammasukha Yahoo Group and placed into the FILES section for you to use.They will be posted at the website www.dhammasukha.orgIf we re-edit or make changes, I will remove old training installments to avoid any confusion. Q: Does this mean we get to contribute to the writing of this new workbook?A: Yes. It means that the first real training manual comes from all of us. This is a different approach to building a book. It means we acknowledge that this group of over 680 people in 23 countries or so is the best measure of how we are doing when we teach this Dhamma in today’s world. That’s key for us to know about.Q: Is there anything else we need to know before we begin?A: Yes. Over 100 people responded to the first poll to request this training. So, when you contribute questions, please

set up your subject line in the email very carefully letting us know the subject or the installment number as [FS-01-What is Dana?] or whichever one it is.Then I can pick it up fast.Many of these installments have now been translated into Spanish and we owe a vote of thanks for this to Adrian Montoya in Santiago, Chile. Big thanks over there!Q: Are you going to give Glossary words like you did in past years?A: A glossary will be emphasized at the end of the project. Pali words will be bolded.

IV Guiding Teacher’s backgroundsMost Venerable “Bhante” Vimalaramsi Mahathera is one of three founders and President of the United International Buddha Dhamma Society (UIBDS) in 2003 and the current Abbot for Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center (DSMC) in Missouri, USA. Bhante has over 37 years of Meditation and spent 12 plus years studying in Asia before coming home to USA to begin the Buddhist American Forest Tradition in 2005. He internationally announced this tradition in 2008 when he was inaugurated as the first lifetime representative for the United States of America to the World Buddhist Council in Japan. The USA has never been represented before on such a Buddhist council. His discovery journey in Asia took him visited many master teachers and elders. He was given the title of Sayadaw Gyi in Burma as an instructor of the Higher level teaching following his completion of the 16 insights in the Mahasi system. He spent over two years with the late Ven. K Sri Dhammananda at Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur. After figuring things out, he began teaching the Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM) and has continued now for over 15 years developing this practice and doing research in the texts. He is well-known worldwide for his first book on the Anapanasati Sutta and this book is still being reprinted in over 12 languages we know of so far. You may download this book at the website www.dhammasukha.org You can come to DSMC for personal retreats in meditation development from Mid-May through October each year. Venerable is the spiritual head for DSMC. He oversees the temporary and full ordination programs where men and women are trained equally and no teching is kept from anyone who really wants to learn. He teaches abroad in Asia in the winter months and will go wherever asked as needed to teach Dhamma for everyday life and to lead discussions that demonstrate how the Pali Texts lead people to more peaceful living..Sasana Dipika Rev. Sister Khema has been studying and working with the development of the TWIM practice and the building of the DSMC forest monastery for over 13 years now. She is the international secretary for Most Ven. Vimalaramsi, and one of the co-founders of UIBDS and DSMC. She took her novice vows as a Buddhist nun in Sept 2006. She is the Chairperson for UIBDS and current co-administrator for DSMC. In 2003 she built the first Dhamma Sukha Website and began supporting students as a teaching project online overseen by the Abbot. She built the support group structure the following year. She first traveled abroad in 2006 and then her public talks and teaching began in 2009. She developed the “online retreat” concept attended by many in 2004-2009 and expanded online training and writing in 2009- 2010. She is responsible for developing support materials and assisting visiting monks and nuns with Dhamma English training. Today all parts of the website combined are visited over thousands of times per month and growing. In 2011 she received the title of Sasana Dipika from head of the Buddhist community in Bangladesh for the work she is doing in spreading the Dhamma worldwide. At this time Sister Khema is building new online videos while traveling in the winter months internationally visiting more countries overseas to spread this easy practice called TWIM. The training manual project began in 2010 as the means to provide the first Teaching and support manual… It will continue on until completed.Page last edited : July 10, 2012 by SK